Matt Bozon
Matt Bozon is the co-creator of Shantae, alongside his wife Erin Bozon. He is also the brother of video game journalist and designer Mark Bozon. On his former website, he claimed to have designed and directed over 50 titles. Studies Matt Bozon studied at Northwestern College in Minnesota (now known as the University of Northwestern - St Paul) from 1989 to 1991, getting an Associate of Arts Degree in Graphic Design, and then at the California Institute of the Arts, in the Character Animation Department from 1991 to 1993, from which he graduated as a certificate student. He created traditionally short animated films thanks to a grant from Walt Disney. Career In his first years, Matt Bozon was sketching caricatures at a Six Flags theme park. Matt Bozon is a founding member of WayForward Technologies. He started with the job of making arts for a Super Nintendo game. He has since served as creative director, lead designer, and director for Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck, Contra 4, the Mighty series and the Shantae series, among others. Creation of Shantae While Matt Bozon was still engaged with his future wife Erin, she got a flash of inspiration while coming back from her camp counselor days, and created the character of Shantae, named after one of the campers. Matt Bozon liked the idea and fleshed out the background and mythology surrounding the character. At the time, Erin had very long hair and Matt would often take a blow in his face each time she turned around. It inspired him for the hair whip, Shantae's trademark attack. Influences Matt Bozon claims his drawing style was heavily influenced by Ranma ½, Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎 駿), G1 Pokémon, and 80s cartoons such as Ducktales and Transformers. For Shantae specifically, Matt has claimed Ranma ½ and Miyazaki as influences, as well as Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Disney's Aladdin, and such video game series as Castlevania, Mega Man and The Legend of Zelda. Works This is a list of projects Matt Bozon was involved in according to Moby Games, a google search over allgame.com (before the site's demise) and Metacritic. Art and animation * Mickey's Ultimate Challenge - backgrounds (1993 or 1994) * FunPack 3D - art and animation (1998) * WCW Mayhem - backgrounds (2000) * Hot Wheels: Stunt Track Driver - artist (2000) * Xtreme Sports - art (2000) * WWF Betrayal - art (2001) * Wendy: Every Witch Way - art (2001) * Shantae - art, animation, character animation, backgrounds, manual art (2002) * Godzilla: Domination! - backgrounds, illustrations (2002) * Ping Pals - art (2004) Design * Berenstain Bears: When Little Bears Are Scaredy Bears - game design (1999) * Xtreme Sports - game design (2000) * Wendy: Every Witch Way - game design, level design (2001) * Godzilla: Domination! - design, level design (2002) * The Scorpion King: Sword of Osiris - designer (2002) * Shantae - design, level design (2002) * Ping Pals - design (2004) * Sigma Star Saga - design, story, character design (2005) * Disney's American Dragon: Jake Long - Rise of the Huntsclan! - designer (2006) * Mighty Switch Force! - designer (2011) * Mighty Switch Force! 2 - designer (2013) Direction * Casper Animated Activity Center - art director (1998) * Xtreme Sports - direction (2000) * Wendy: Every Witch Way - art director (2001) * WWF Betrayal - direction (2001) * Godzilla: Domination! - director (2002) * The Scorpion King: Sword of Osiris - art director (2002) * Shantae - creator, direction (2002) * Rescue Heroes: Billy Blazes - director (2003) * Ping Pals - direction (2004) * The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie - WayForward Creative Director (2004) * Sigma Star Saga - creator, director (2005) * SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! - WayForward Creative Director (2005) * Tak: The Great Juju Challenge - creative director (2005) * Justice League Heroes: The Flash - WayForward Creative Director (2006) * SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature From the Krusty Krab - creative director (2006) * Unfabulous - creative director (2006) * X-Men: The Official Game - WayForward Creative Director (2006) * Contra 4 - director (2007) * Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck - creative director (2007) * Space Chimps - creative director (2008) * A Boy and His Blob - creative director (2009) * Where the Wild Things Are - creative director (2009) * Batman: The Brave and The Bold - The Videogame - creative director (2010) * Galactic Taz Ball - creative director (2010) * Shantae: Risky's Revenge - creator, director (2010) * BloodRayne: Betrayal - creative director, art director (2011) * Centipede: Infestation - creative director (2011) * Double Dragon Neon - creative director, art director (2012) * Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition - creative director (2012) * Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?! - creative director (2012) * Mighty Switch Force! 2 - director (2013) * DuckTales: Remastered - creative director (2013) * Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON'T KNOW! - creative director (2013) * The Smurfs 2 - creative director (2013) * Double Dragon Neon - creative director, art director (2014) * Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark - creative director (2014) * Shantae and the Pirate's Curse - director (2014) * Wonder Momo: Typhoon Booster - creative director (2014) * Mighty Switch Force! Hose It Down - creative director (2015) * Mighty Switch Force! Academy - creative director (2015) * Descendants - creative director (2015) Writing * DuckTales: Remastered - writer (2013) * Shantae and the Pirate's Curse - writer (2014) Production * Sigma Star Saga - producer (2005) * Shantae: Risky's Revenge - producer (2010) Consulting * Star Warped - animation consultant (1997) Quality assurance * Godzilla: Domination! - game tester (2002) Links * Matt's old website circa 2004 * Matt's deviantArt page (worth a look) * GenieGirl.com, former official Shantae site * C3 Exclusive Interview | WayForward Talks Nintendo Wii, Sigma Star, Shantae DS & More! * The Next Level interview: Sigma Star Saga * Nintendo Power interview: Mighty Switch Force – Coming to the 3DS eShop * EDGE Interview * Matt Bozon at MobyGames * Matt Bozon at RAWG Category:Developers